Thursday, October 1, 2009

Johnson And Martin Visit "Trackside" On SPEED

This is the time of the year when Sprint Cup Series drivers begin to get tense. Answers get a little shorter, faces are a little tighter and crew chiefs work a little harder. This year, there are two exceptions to this rule.

One well known exception is named Jimmie Johnson. Love him or hate him, he is the king of cool when the TV cameras are on. This season, the other exception is NASCAR's favorite senior citizen Mark Martin. He is usually seen endlessly repeating the same theme of thankfulness and smiling ear-to-ear.

Every racing weekend, SPEED airs the Trackside show. This program is sometimes taped in the afternoon and sometimes done live. This weekend in Kansas, SPEED will welcome both Johnson and Martin to the program at 7PM ET Friday night.

Steve Byrnes has been hosting this TV series for years. His skills at gently directing traffic and keeping things on schedule are usually on display. This time of the year, Darrell Waltrip is long gone and Elliott Sadler is on the panel. Sadler has joined his brother Hermie in carving out a nice niche on SPEED.

Rounding out the panel are the hardest-working guys on SPEED, hands down. Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond are a part of every single Sprint Cup Series Racing weekend. Unlike the other NASCAR TV personalities that come and go, McReynolds and Hammond start in Daytona and stay put all the way through Homestead.

Normally, this show is a harmless hour of fun and some conversation for the hardcore fan featuring behind-the-scenes information. On this Friday, however, the two top candidates in the Chase for the Championship are going to be sharing the same stage.

This gives the panelists an opportunity to ask some questions and get some answers that perhaps fans have not heard before. The one thing that this panel does quite well is get a bit deeper into the mindset of drivers and teams that succeed.

Johnson and Martin may be quite different, but they share the same kind of quiet discipline from their exercise programs to their focused approach to racing. It should be interesting to hear them speak on various subjects in this long-form TV program. So often, we hear them talk in short "soundbites" on shows from NASCAR Now to RaceDay.

Trackside still suffers from a tough stage configuration, distracting audience noise and bad weather, but it has muddled through. Cold and wet are two words currently being tossed around about the conditions in Kansas this weekend, so we shall see how things work out.

There is a full day of practice and qualifying coverage on tap before Trackside. The complete NASCAR TV schedule is located on the right side of The Daly Planet main page.

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24 comments:

This is going to become a ton more interesting especially after news that the 48 and 5 from Dover were told to not bring the cars back to the race track ever again.

Might tune in just to hear if it gets mentioned.

I enjoy the conversation aspect of Trackside, but the commercialism and stage setup are tough. I get it makes the fans there feel like they are a part of the show but the group mentality of everyone trying to get their 15 seconds of fame just because a camera is there gets old fast.

I think trackside is great, butagree with David 12:07 that thebackground is distracting. It appears to me that the producersmay be making the frenzy; especially with some of what appears to be manufactured signs.Save the hooplah for appropriatetimes.

once again nascar not playing fair. if cars were out of specs, even by 2 sheets of paper, thats still out of specs. while it may not have affected race results, who can say.my problem is the carl long penalty about his engine. it was less than 1 cubic inch over and they fined him 200k and suspended him. come on people in tv and print demand solid answers from nascar. lets not sweep it under rug

Nope, won't be any negativity from these guys! "That's Chad's job" and "I don't know anything about that I just drive the car they give me." I may watch to see what Jimmie says, but Mark is a broken record. The biggest thing I like about Trackside IS the audience, some of those signs the fans display are too funny. And I like to see what gifts the drivers bring from the sponsors. The Dollar General bagful was a hoot.

I thought NA$CAR's "new" policy was a pass/fail with no exceptions with the COT. I guess the Hendrick organization is different and get a warning that others don't. If it fails, it fails and a substantial fine and points penalty is supposed to be the result. Apparently you can't punish Hendrick if it has an impact on the Chase.

Was at Trackside last week in Dover, just to see Jeff Gordon. It's a lot of fun, if you're up for LOUD music during commercial breaks. And believe me, they strongly encourage sign waving, and yelling, and "looking like you're having fun." They will even provide the cardboard to make your own sign, if they don't see enough signs in the crowd.

At tolerance, still a conversation piece. I don't believe they were illegal, though them being told not to bring the car back in that condition is interesting because who is to say that couldn't affect the car(s) those teams select for later races?

I know what TS is notorious for and it will probably get blown off, my only hope is that it gets addressed during practice and we get a straight answer from both NASCAR and the HMS camp